The government of Pakistan is poised to end the practice of providing free electricity units to DISCOs and GENCOs officers.
The Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE) is convening to replace this with a utility allowance for the officers.
Under this plan, officers within the power division, ranging from grades 17 to 22, will receive a utility allowance instead of free electricity units.
Specifically, grade 17 officers attached to generation companies (GENCOs) will receive Rs 24,570 per month in lieu of 650 free units per month.
Grade 18 officers of GENCOs will get Rs 26,460 per month instead of 700 free units, while grade 19 officers will receive Rs 42,720 per month in place of 1000 free units.
Grade 20 officers of GENCOs will be granted Rs 46,992 per month, replacing the provision of 1100 free units per month.
Whereas, Grade 21 officers of GENCOs will no longer receive 1300 free units and will instead receive Rs 55,536 per month.
Initially, WAPDA employees were excluded from this proposal, but they have now been included following discussions held at the Prime Minister’s Office on August 27.
It is pertinent to mention here that WAPDA employees have been enjoying free electricity since 1974, and there were allegations of some of them selling this free electricity to make money. The supply of free electricity to grade 16 officers will continue, and any unused free units each month will be carried over to subsequent months. The monetization rate for officers will remain consistent with the tariff set in July 2023.
